Oakland Roots approach the season after making some marquee changes around the locker room, departing from 13 players who regularly appeared at different points last season. The full list includes Johnny Rodriguez, Paul Blanchette, Memo Diaz, Lindo Mfeka, Jeciel Cedeño, Koze Donasiyano, Napo Matsoso, Niall Logue, Bryan Tamacas, Rafa Baca, Trayvone Reid, Miche-Naider Chéry, and Dom Dwyer.
The winds of change around Roots’ roster brought 10 new players into the fold, including surefire Day 1 starters with Panos Armenakas and goal keeper Kendall McIntosh. They replace previous mainstays at their position like Mfeka and Blanchette.
Change is difficult; doubly so when considering fan-favorites, former starters, and players who gained a connection to the area. But after 2024 resulted in the club’s second consecutive season with a collapse in quality down the final stretch, change was undoubtedly needed.
During the club’s Media Day on February 26, head coach Gavin Glinton and technical director Jordan Ferrell both made an interesting admission; they needed to get rid of “entitlement” floating around.
“We have a good group and we’re focused on hard work, timeliness, focus, and resiliency, but a big one is accountability. We’re trying to get away from some of the entitlement that had been in the locker room in some of the past years,” Glinton said.
Ferrell mentioned how addressing the culture of entitlement was a primary topic as they turned the page on 2024. He feels training at their facility on Harbor Bay Parkway, considered the best in the USL Championship, inflated some heads.
“The culture of entitlement was a big topic of conversation this offseason. When a player sees this facility, there’s a lot of different directions that can go. The reason the character of players we were signing this offseason was paramount is because we wanted people who have a blue-collar work ethic and wouldn’t allow this place as a reason to be complacent,” Ferrell said.
“We tried as much as possible to maintain the blue-collar nature of our culture. It doesn’t have to do with the level of professional, but it’s more related to the type of person. I really believe that with the experiences I’ve had here.”
Glinton added there was a “real intensity” that was missing last year.
“There’s a lot of good energy around the group right now; real intensity that I think was lacking last year,” Glinton said. “… First and foremost, we want to make sure we are inspiring our crowd when we go out on the field with our effort, energy, and creativity… From a cultural and big-picture standpoint, the guys have been locked in with what they want to bring.”
This offseason, Roots signed considerable depth at multiple spots throughout the order.
EJ Johnson and Peter Wilson will vie for time at the striker role. There’s a lot of selectable talent of wide players like Armenakas, José Luis Sinisterra, Wolfgang Prentice, and Jürgen Damm. The veteran Mexico National, Damm, could be competing with Abdi Mohammed at right-side fullback.
Along the back line, Julian Bravo could push for a starting spot. In the midfield, Ugandan international Bobosi Byaruhanga will likely push Danny Gomez, Tyler Gibson, and Camden Riley for minutes.
With its wealth of quality players, Oakland hopes the competition within the lineup creates a hungry cast. When asked a second time about the entitlement that manifested last year, Glinton thinks it was credit to players not competing for their spot.
“It manifests itself by not earning your spot week-in, week-out. It manifests in not uplifting your teammates and digging in when things get difficult. It manifests by not having a growth mindset, and how we need to continue to grow with how the club has grown off the pitch. These are things related to the maturity of the professional that we’ve really tried to show intent with changing this offseason,” Glinton said.
Ferrell thinks they are seeing the culture change as they built to March 8’s opener in Orange County.
“We see the environment on the field becoming very competitive. Gavin has a desire for his team to be really competitive and driven, that’s coming out,” Ferrell said. “It’s showing frustration when teams lose. I see guys not happy when they lose, whereas I think last year guys were just going through the process. We’ve seen that throughout the preseason.”
Signing leadership type of players and previous champions has been a key detail in nearly all of Roots’ moves.
Kai Greene returns to Oakland after emerging as a captain at Monterey Bay. Tyler Gibson won a NASL title with San Francisco Deltas and was a former captain of Indy Eleven. In fact, each of Damm, Wilson, Mohammed, Byaruhanga, and Armenakas have lifted trophies at some point in their careers.
“Kai was great for us, he was a top defender in the league and leader in Monterey,” Ferrell said on Media Day. “You’ll see with different players we signed is we wanted people who were coming from winning cultures. In the case of Adbi, Tyler, and Panos, they are players who are familiar with winning the league and the USL Cup. I think we’ve seen that influence from Day 1.”
2025 represents the most important season in club history with entering the Coliseum, giving Roots its largest house in its existence. Glinton knows getting the fans’ support is vital to their growth.
“We mean it when we say we have the best fans in the world,” Glinton said. “We know how important sports are to this community and we want to represent the identity of the community and its hopes, passions, and inspiration. Everything we do on the field is to reflect that.”
Multiple players stayed after the final whistle of practice at Media Day to work with McIntosh. The willingness to put in extra work is something people around Roots have noticed as a stark difference from last season. Although McIntosh wasn’t a part of the club in 2024, the veteran keeper gave his impression on what he’s seeing.
“I can’t comment on the vibe of the team last year, but I think the ethos of the team is a grit and grind mentality. That’s the soul and core of the team,” McIntosh said. “Everybody comes in with an idea of who they want to be in the team. I want guys with personality and guys with ego, because you have to back it up and stand on your business.”
“What Gavin has done to bring the group together is that guys are finding their role on the team. It’s not just 11 dudes, it’s 26 including the 51O kids. Everyone is growing into their place on the team and we’re going to need everyone. It’s incredibly important, people are embracing the culture.”